Hi,
I'm new to this site and I'm thinking of welcoming a Cav into our home.
I'm just wondering if anyone know's about a breeder in Wicklow. I'm not sure if I'm allowed mention there name so I'm not going to, but the breeder is based at Churchmountain in west wicklow.
Has anyone and recommendations about them?

Regards

Karlin

15th October 2006, 11:13 PM

Welcome to the board. :)

You'll find information on what's Ok to post in the Getting Started section.

I don't allow online discussions of breeder recommendations, good or bad, because these can potentially cause legal probelms, but anyone who knows more info can PM you privately.

In general you want to ask the breeder if they do cardiac clearances on their breeding dogs, and also clear them for hips, eyes, and patellas (knees). If they do not heart testing, or say their vet checks the dogs, and cannot produce any cardiac certificates, or say they have their vet check the puppies' hearts (which is virtually meaningless -- it has to be the parents), this isn't good enough; then personally I would not take a puppy from them. Breeders have known about the MVD (heart valve disease) breeding protocol for a decade and following it is standard for an ethical breeder as it significantly lowers the chances of early-onset mitral valve disease (and hence, early death of your cavalier). There's lots about this in the Library section under Health.

Sadly very few Irish breeders follow the basic cardiac guidelines, but there are some. Half of all cavaliers will have a heart murmur and the start of MVD by age 5 so it is really important to get a breeder who does the proper clearances.

Karlin

15th October 2006, 11:16 PM

Some further info:

Background on cavaliers if you are considering a cavalier:

http://www.cavaliertalk.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2304

Here are some links to information on finding a reputable, responsible breeder of Cavaliers. The same general info applies in Ireland but obviously you are looking for IKC registration as the most basic starting point.